Day 16 - Shortening a Document's Long Sharing Link

In yesterday's tip, we learned how to make a Google Document public and how to get a link to share with others. While the link works well, it can be a little long, especially if you want to post it on a webpage or blog.

Google has an url shortener that you can use to take the gigantic sharing link for a Document and shorten it into something more manageable. I use it all the time when I share Google Documents, especially when I create Google Forms. The Google url shortener also collects some basic statistics about who how many people click your short link. It even let's you create QR codes for a link!

Here's how to use it:

1. Copy the URL/link of the shared Document. You can always find the URL/link by clicking on the "Share" button
   
   
   
2. Go to the Google url shortener at http://goo.gl
   
   
3. Check the upper right corner of the page and make sure that you are signed into your Google account
   
   
4. Paste the long URL/address/link into the box and click "Shorten URL"
   
   
5. A short link will be created to the right. You can copy it and use it in place of the old long URL/address/link
   
   
6. The Google url shortener also keeps a history of all the short links that you create. You can go back and find them at any time
   
   
7. If you click the "Details" link next to a link, you will find some basic statistics as to how many visitors have clicked on the link, as well as a QR code that you can use to direct people to the link